PRAWN FISHERY BY THE 'BIG TRAWLERS' ALONG THE NORTHEAST COAST

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2 PRAWN FISHERY BY THE 'BIG TRAWLERS' ALONG THE NORTHEAST COAST G. Sudhakara Rao Visakhapatnam Research Centre of CMFRI, Visakhapatnam Introduction The traditional fishery for prawns along the northeast coast with different varieties of shore seines and boat seines has been restricted to a narrow strip of coastal waters. With the advent of mechanisation, the fishing pattern has undergone drastic changes in the past two decades. Commercial trawling for prawns by small mechanised boats of m length with HP diesel engines, started towards the end of 1967 at Visakhapatnam, has expanded by leaps and bounds. Some of these boats ventured fishing along the Orissa coast in 1973 met with success. Thus there developed a sizable fleet operating from Paradeep althrough the year. However, due to limited endurance these small mechanised boats are not capable of harvesting the vast areas of the Sandheads and the adjacent grounds. Two 'big trawlers' of 24 m over-all-jength (Gulf of Mexico type) imported from the USA which started fishing for prawns in this area in 1972 found that this type of boats could be operated successfully in these waters. The economic viability of these two boats paved the way for the development of a fishery based on these big trawlers. In recent years there has been a gradual increase in the number of these boats and in 1986 about 100 big trawlers were in operation. Another interesting development was the introduction of 'mini trawlers' (16 m OAL) at the end of 1985 which became the craze of the industry in About 27 of these 'mini trawlers' were in operation in 1986 from 15

3 Visakhapatnam. These trawlers (large trawlers and mini trawlers) operate from Visakhapatnam since infrastructural facilities are available only at this harbour. Some of the boats operated from Roychowk harbour during 1983-'84 found it difficult to operate from this harbour and abandoned the idea once for all inspite of the requests from West Bengal. In fact, the vessels of the West Bengal Fisheries Corporation themselves are operating from Visakhapatnam. Rao (Indian J. Fish.,) gave a preliminary account of the fishery based on the data of 1983-'84 to 1985-'86 and stock estimation of the prawn resource. In the present account data for 1983-'84 to 1986-'87 are analysed in a detailed way to eulcidate monthly variations as well as annual variations of catch and effort, catch composition, fishing areas and depth distribution. The fishing fleet and its operations The big trawlers of m OAL are made of steel with HP diesel engines while the mini trawlers of 16m OAL are of wooden make with engines of 145HP. Salient features of a typical big trawler and a typical mini trawler are given below: Specifications Over-all-length (m) Breadth (m) Draft (m) Horse power of engine Gross tonnage (GRT) Registered tonnage (NRT) Crew complement Chill tank capacity (t) Chill tank temperature ( C) Fish hold capacity (t) Fish hold temperature ( C) Type of net Length of head rope of net (m) Codend mesh size (mm) Dimensions of otter boards (m) Weight of otter boards (kg) Trawling speed in knots Big trawler Four seam shrimp trawl X Mini trawler No freezing facility -do Four seam shrimp trawl X Both the types of vessels are provided with echosounder and radiotelephone. The large trawlers have freezing facility on board the vessels, while the mini trawlers do not have such a facility. They carry ice in the fish hold and store the catch in ice. The large rawlers could stay at sea for days while the minitrawlers can stay only for 8-10 days. Although they operate from Visakhapatnam, very often they take shelter in Paradeep Harbour whenever the sea is rough and not possible to conduct fishing. As the weather in the northern Bay of Bengal is highly unpredictable, the time spent by these vessels at Paradeep is quite considerable. The vessels operate two identical nets simultaneously from the outriggers on both sides of the boat. Generally a haul lasts for about 3-4 hours, although hauls of upto 6 hours duration are quite common. Daily a boat conducts operations for about hours if not hampered by bad weather and mechanical failures. All these boats conduct aimed trawling for penaeid prawns. However, a good quantity offish are also caught. Most of the fish catch is composed of low quality species and hence is discarded immediately, retaining only quality fishes such as pomfrets, seers, eels, tunas, polynemids, catfishes and perches. The amount of by-catch discarded at sea varies from vessel to vessel and in the same vessel from haul to haul and season to season. None of the vessels keep any records of these discards and hence it is not possible to estimate the total catch of these trawlers. The big trawlers generally operate between Pentakota (17 N lat.) in the south aad Sunderbans (2rN lat.) in the north including the vast areas of the Sandheads (Fig. 1). Although they fish over wider areas, most of the effort is expended between Gopalpur (19 N lat.) and the Sunderbans (21 N lat.). These vessels- generally fish in the depth range of m and rarely in m and beyond 80 m depth ranges. Retrieval and analysis of data from the fishing logs Most of these trawlers maintain a regular fishing log. However, there is no uniformity in the"fishing log of different vessels. For the sake of uniformity the data have been transformed to yield data on effort in sea days, fishing days, fishing hours and catch of total prawns and composition of 'tiger', 'white', 'brown' and 'others' in the landings. Any ambiguity observed in the fishing logs was got clarified by discussions with crew of the vessels. Some of the vessels could not provide fishing log. Hence, the data are extrapolated 16

4 Fig. 1. Map showing the northeast coast of India with depth contours. to the total number of vessels operated based on the data for which fishing logs were available. The accessibility to fishing logs of vessels in different years is as follows : Years Vessels for Total number of which fishing vessels operated log was available 1983-' ' ' ' None of the mini trawlers could provide data. Observations at the landing centre indicated that the prawn landings of three mini trawlers were equal to one big trawler. Hence, 27 mini trawlers are standardised as 9 large trawlers in 1986-'87. A species-wise breakup of the prawn catch was not possible since the catch is recorded as 'headless tiger', 'headless white', 'headless brown' and 'headless flower'. However, the species composition of different categories wa 'Tigers' : 'Whites' : Penaeus monodon, P. semisulcatus and P. japonicus P. indicus, P. merguiensis and P. penicillatus 17

5 'Browns' : Metapenaeus monoceros, M. ensis and M. affinis 'Flowers' : M. brevicornis and M. dobsoni Fishing hour or trawling hour i.e., the time actually spent in trawling was taken as a standard unit of effort than any other time unit such as sea day, fishing day and fishing haul and the catch obtained for one hour of trawling or catch per hour of trawling (CPH) was considered as an index of abundance. While analysing the data month-wise, the data of landing at Visakhapatnam was taken as the criterion to include the voyage in that month irrespective of the month of departure. The fishery Catch and effort Monthly distribution of effort in terms of voyages, sea days, fishing days and fishing hours for the fouryear period 1983~'84 to 1986-'87 is shown in figures 2-5. With the increase in the number of vessels in the fishing fleet from 55 in 1983-'84 to 100 in 1986-'87, the effort in respect of voyages, sea days, fishing days and fishing» M J J» S O» D J F M H 0 H T H S Fig 3. Monthly effort in sea days of big trawfers during to 1986-'87. / M' Fig. 2. Montfily effort of 1986-' S 0 N D MONTHS big trawlers during 1983-'84 to «M J J A S O H O j f M N 0 N r H S Fig. 4. Montfify effort in fishing days of big trawlers during 1983-'84 to 1986-'87.

6 ; V to 64.9 t in March while the CPH increased from 5.2 kg in May to 28.5 kg in November and then declined to 8.0 kg in March (Figure 7). Thefisheryrealised Rs million during this year. 2 * The annual prawn landings in 1985-'86 were estimated at 3,043.0 t for an effort of 184,874 trawling hours expended by 75 vessels. The increase in the landings was only 7% while the increase in effort was 24%. Prawn landings gradually increased from May (20.3 t) till November (471.0 t) and then declined gradually till May, whereas the CPH gradually increased from July (15.7 kg) to September (21.7 kg) and then declined gradually till February (9.2 kg) with the average estimated at 16.3 kg. During the year the landings were valued at Rs million, an increase of over 21 % from that of the previous year. I~-i'" 1 I I I I I» N J ) * S 0 N 0 In 1986-'87, 100 vessels (91 + 9) landed an estimated 3,077.5 t of catch for an effort of 195,300 trawling hours with an average CPH of 15.8 kg. Although the increase in effort was 5 % the increase in catch was only 1 %. Prawn landings gradually increased from June (45.8 t) till December (558.9 t) and then declined till March (84.2 t) while the CPH increased from 16.1 kg Fig. 5. Monthly effort in fishing hours of big trawlers during 1983-'84 to 1986-'87. hours gradually increased during the period under study. Fishing effort is at a minimum during April - June, from when gradually increased to reach a peak during October - December and then declined gradually to March. This trend was followed in more or less all the four years for which data are available. Data on monthly prawn landings and CPH for prawns for the four-year period are presented in figures 6 and 7 and the annual data on catch and effort is presented in Table 1. In 1983-'84 an estimated 2,353 t of prawns were landed by 55 vessels operated during that year. Tiiese vessels fished for about 143,961 trawling hours recording a CPH of 16.3 kg. Prawn landings varied from 10.8 t in May to t in January while the CPH varied from 5.9 kg in April to 27.2 kg in 0:tob3r. Almost 55% of annual quantity was landed in 0;tob?r-January. The fishery realised Rs million (ex-vessel) during this year. In 1984-'85, 60 vessels landed 2,815.5 t of prawns for an effort of 139,929 trawling hours with a CPH of 20.1 kg. Prawn landings gradually increased from 1.8 t in May to t in September and then declined» n j )» s o N o ; f «HON! H S Fig. 6. Monthly prawn landings by big trawlers during to 1986-'87. 19

7 in August to 19.8 kg in October and then declined gradually to 7.6 kg in March. The annual landings were valued at Rs million, an increase of over 27% over that of the previous year. Catch composition The catch was composed of 'tigers' (8.1 %), 'whites' (29.9%), 'browns' (60.7%)and'others'(1.3%). Theproportion of 'others' in the first three years was negligible. Monthwise percentage composition is presented in Fig. 8. It is observed that 'browns' dominated the catches in almost all the months followed by 'whites' and 'tigers'. r «'Tigers': Monthly landings and CPH of 'tigers' during the four-year period are presented in Fig. 9. The landings of tigers in 1983-'84 were estimated at t, forming about 8.3% of the annual prawn landings. The landings gradually increased from May (1.4 t) till November (34.3 t) and then decreased in December and January followed by an increasing trend till March (20.4 t). CPH also indicated more or less similar trend with the annual CPH estimated at 1.4 kg. With an estimated catch of t, 'tigers' formed about 8.4% of the prawn landings in I984-'85 (Table I). The landings exhibited peaks in September (43.8 t), November (37.7 t) and February (23.0 t) whereas peaks for CPH were observed in August (2.7 kg), November (2.1 kg) and February (1.5 kg). The annual average CPH was recorded at 1.7 kg against 1.4 kg of the previous year. * H J J» S O N O J f H MONTHS Fig. 7. Monthly CPH by big trawlers duriug 1983-'84 to ' t of 'tigers', forming about 7.7 % of the prawn landings, were landed in I985-'86. The peaks in the landings were observed in August (30.4 t), October (33.7 t), January (32.6 t) and March (19.9 t). The CPH also followed the same trend. The average CPH was 1.3 kg, about 0.4 kg lesser than that of the previous year. With an estimated catch of t, 'tigers' formed about 8.3 % of the prawn landings in I986-'87 (Table 1). The landings exhibited peaks in August (48.8 t), October (41.9 t) and December (38.0 t) while the CPH gradually declined from August (2.3 kg) till February (0.4 kg). Annual CPH did not vary from 1.3 kg recorded in the previous year. HONTNS ^ 0 H 0 J f Fig. 8. Mon thly catch composition of prawn landings of big trawlers during 1983-'84 to 1986-'87. 'Whites': Annual landings varied from tin 1983-'84 to t in 1986-'87 (Table 1) while the CPH varied from 4.8 kg in I985-'86 to 5.8 kg in 1984-^'85. Month-wise landings and CPH of 'whites' are presented in Fig. 10. During 1983~'84,the landings for 'whites' exhibited peaks in August (53.6 t), October (121.6 t) and January (154.0 t) whereas the peaks in CPH were in June (5.3 kg), October (10.0 kg) and January (7.4 kg). 20

8 Table 1. Catch and effort of big trawlers operating from Visakhapatnam during the years 1983-'84 to 1986-'87 Vessels in operation No. of voyages No. of days at sea No. of fishing days No. of fishing hours Prawn catch in t CPH in kg Catch composition Catch in t 'Tiger' CPH in kg 'White' Particulars 1983-' ' ' ' ,051 10,518 14,175 16,843 8,071 7,746 10,306 11, , , , ,300 2, , , , /o Catch in t CPH in kg /o Catch in t 'Brown' CPH in kg / /o Other prawns catch in t Value in millions of Rs , , , , B , ,2 ~i r-i n A M J J A S O N O J F M A M J J A S O N D J F H n. MONTHS Fig. 9. Monthly catch and CPH of 'tigers' by big trawlers during 1983-'84 to 1986-'

9 Table 2. Pooled monthly averages of catch and effort of big trawlers operating from Visakhapatnam (Pooled for the period April, 1983 to March, '87; Particulars Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Total No. of voyages Days at sea Fishing days Fishing hrs. Prawn catch in t CPH in kg , , , ,564 1, , , , , ,597 1,082 19, ,583 1,207 20, ,572 1,277 22, ,575 1,261 2, , , , , ,145 9, ,016 2, Catch composition 'Tiger' r Catch in t! CPH in kg 1% 'White' [ Catch in t! CPH in kg 1% r Catch in t 'Brown' ( CPH in kg (% , Catch in t CPH in kg /o

10 Whites formed about 30.6 % of the prawn landings in 1983-'84. With an estimated catch of t, 'whites' formed about 29.2 % of the prawn landings in 1985-'86. Although there was an increase in the catch, the CPH sharply declined as compared to the previous year. The landings gradually increased from April (0.8 t) and reached a peak in November (172.21) and then declined thereafter till March (53.3 t). The CPH gradually increased from 3.9 kg in July to 7.7 kg in October and then declined till March (2.6 kg). The catch was estimated at t forming about 31.0% of the prawn landings in 1986-'87. The landings increased from June (13.5 t) till October (239.1 t) and then declined gradually till March (2.2 t). The CPH showed random variations in June-September and declined from October (8.8 kg) till March (0.2 kg). Pooled data for the four year period indicate that October-December was the best period for the fishery of 'whites' with better landings and CPH (Table 2). The landings gradually increased from April till October and then dechned gradually till March. 'Browns': With an estimated catch of 1,417.4 t 'browns' formed 60.2% of the prawn landings in '84 (Table 1). The landings and CPH indicated peaks m September, January and March (Fig. 11). Annual average CPH was estimated as 9.9 kg with variations from 3.7 kg in April to 18.1 kg in September t of 'browns' forming about 62.4% of the prawn landings, were caught in 1984-'85. Compared to the previous year, the increase in landings was about 20% while the average in CPH was about 22%. The landings and CPH exhibited peaks in September, November and January. CPH varied from 4.9 kg in May to 20.0 kg in November with the annual average estimated at 12.6 kg. With an estimated catch of 1,912.81, 'browns' formed about 62.9% of the prawn landings in 1985-'86. The landings more or less gradually increased from 10.2 t in May to t in January. The CPH varied between 5.2 kg in February to 14.6 kg in September with the annual average at 10.4 kg. With an estimated landing of 1,763.3 t, 'browns' formed about 57.3 % of the prawn landings in 1986-'87. The landings as well as CPH declined as compared to 1985-'86. The landings varied from 21.1 t in April to t in December. The CPH varied from 6.0 kg in March to 13.4 kg in September with the average estimated at 9.0 kg. The CPH in April cannot be taken as an index since effort expended was negligible. Pooled averages for the four-year period indicate that August - January was the best period for the fishery of 'browns' with about 78 % of the catch landed during this period (Table 2). The CPH was also very high during the period as compared to the February - July period. Distribution and abundance In different areas Data of two vessels for 1985-'86 and 1986-'87 were analysed to study the abundance of prawns in space and time. During this period these vessels operated from Kalingapatnam (lat. 18 N-long. 84 E) to the Sunderbans (lat. 21 N and long. 89''E). Out of a total effort of 10,438 trawhng hours, 32% was expended in Sandheads II (20 N and 88 E), 19% off Balasore and 14 % off Chilka (Table 3). The CPH varied from kg in Sandheads I to kg off Sunderbans. The reason for not putting commensurate effort in areas off Kalingapatnam and off Gopalpur was mainly due to concentration of indigenous gear in these areas. Although the CPH recorded was high off anchorage and ofif Sunderbans the vessels could not expend more effort due to limited area available for trawling. In general it may be concluded that grounds ofif Kalingapatnam, Gopalpur, Chilka in the south and ofif Balasore, anchorage and Sandheads are more productive than the other grounds. Grounds off Chilka, Paradeep and in Sandheads I are better for 'tigers' while grounds off Gopalpur, Chilka and Balasore are better for 'whites'. 'Browns' are better represented in the grounds off" Konarak, Sandheads II, ofif anchorage and Sunderbans than in the other areas. Month-wise abundance of total prawns in diflferent areas is presented in Table 4. Ofif Kalingapatnam (18 N and 84 E) the CPH varied from 1.96kg in February to kg in September. The CPH varied from 4.44 kg in February to kg in October off Gopalpur. It is observed that in many areas high CPH was recorded during August - December period and moderate values in June - July and poor values in February - May. Month-wise abundance of 'tigers' in different areas is presented in Table 5. The abundance of tigers was more in the grounds ofif Balasore in July; ofif Kalingapatnam, in Sandheads II and ofif Anchorage in August and ofif Gopalpur, of Chilka lake, off Konarak and ofif 23

11 12 '= J J A S O N D J F M A H J J A S O N D J F M H 0 N T HS Fig. 10. Monthly catch and CPH of 'whites' by big trawlers during 1983-'84 to 1986-'87. Table 3. Abundance of prawns in different areas of northeast coast of India Area Off Off Kalin- Gopalgapatnam pur Off Off Off Chilka Konarak Paradeep Sand heads 1 Sand heads II Off Balasore Off Anchorage Off Sundarbans Latitude "N- Longitude E No. of hauls Trawling time in hrs Prawn catch in kg CPH in kg , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Catch composition Tiger' ( Catch in kg (.CPH in kg f Catch in kg 'White' 1 CPH in kg ( Catch in kg 'Brown' ( CPH in kg , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

12 A \ A lllxzud A M J N M A M J J 0 N J MONTHS Fig. 11. Monthly catch and CPH of 'browns'by big trawlers during 1983-'84 to 1986-'87. 1 Table 4. Month-wise abundance of prawns (CPH in kg) in different areas of northeast coast of India Latitude N- Longitude E Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Annual

13 Table 5. Month-wise abundance of 'tigers' (CPH in kg) in different areas of northeast coast of India Latitude N- Longitude E Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. - Annual l.ll = No Catch Table 6, Month-wise abundance of 'whites' (CPH in kg) in different areas of northeast coast of India Latitude N- Longitude E Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Annual = No Catch Table 7. Month-wise abundance of 'browns' (CPH in kg) in different areas of northeast coast of India Latitude N- Longitude E Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep." Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Annual

14 Table 8. Depth-wise distribution of prawn catches of big trawlers during 1985-'86 and 1986-'87 (Data for 6 vessels pooled) Depth in metres No. of hauls Trawling time in hours Prawn catch in kg CPH in kg , , , ,463 5, , ,362 5, , , , , , , , , , , Catch composition Tiger' 'White' [Catch in kg j CPH in kg 1 % (Catch in kg CPH in kg I % j" Catch in kg 'Brown' ( CPH in kg I % , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Table 9. Month-wise abundance of prawns (CPH in kg) in different depth zones of northeast coast of India Depth in metres/months January February March April Mdy June July August September October November December All Months = No operation Paradeep in October. Generally the abundance was less in most of the areas during the March-June period. Month-wise abundance of 'whites' in different areas as indicated by CPH is presented in Table 5. The abundance was more off Kalingapatnam and off Paradeep in August and September while it was more off Gopalpur, Sandheads II, off Balasore and off Anchorage in October; off Sandheads I and off Sunderbans in November and December. CPH was poor in most of the areas during January - June period. Month-wise abundance of 'browns' as indicated by CPH in different areas is given in Table 7. 'Browns' were abundant in July and September off Kalingapatnam; in June off Gopalpur; in June, December and March 27

15 off Chilka lake; in August and October off Konarak; in July and January off Paradeep; in July - October in Sandheads I; in July - February in Sandheads 11; in July, September and January off Balasore; in August- March off Anchorage and in November - January off Sunderbans. Abundance of prawns in relation to depth To study the depth-wise abundance of prawns, data of six vessels from April, 1985 to March, 1987 were analysed. Depth zones were classified as m, m, m etc., to get a clear picture of abundance of prawns based on the CPH obtained in different zones. Of the 5,675 hours expended by these vessels during the two year period, 50% of the effort was expended in m depth range (Table 8). The depths of m and m were moderately fished and those of m and m were poorly fished. They never fished beyond 100 m depth. The abundance randomly fluctuated in m depth zone between and kg while it gradually increased from m (10.32 kg) to m (16.36 kg). The abundance of 'tigers' as indicated by CPH gradually increased from m and then gradually declined beyond this depth. The proportion of 'tigers' in the total prawn catches also indicated a similar trend. The abundance of 'whites' was better in m depth and then declined gradually beyond this zone. The proportion of whites gradually declined from m (89.66%) to m (2.32%). The abundance of 'browns' gradually increased from m (1.39 kg) to m (15.3 kg). Similarly the proportion of 'browns' in the prawn catches also increased gradually from m (8.77%) to m (93.76%). Month-wise abundance of total prawns in different depth zones is presented in Table 9. The abundance of prawn was more in November and December in m depth range, September - December in m. May - November in m, May - October in m. May - November in m, August December in m, July - January in m, August - January in m and August - December in m depth ranges. In general the abundance was less in February- April in all the depths. Month-wise abundance of 'tigers' in different depth zones is presented in Table 10. The abundance of tigers was more in October in m, August-Septemberin m, May-October in 31-40m,July- March in m, May-August and December - February in m, January, August and October in61-70 m, and July - December in m depth ranges. In m and m it was negligible in the catches. Month-wise abundance of 'browns' in different, depth zones is presented in Table 12. The abundance Table 10. Month-wise abundance of 'tigers' (CPH in kg) in different depth zones of northeast coast of India Depth in metres/months January February March April May June July August September October November December All Months = No operation = No catch 28

16 Table 11. Month-wise abundance of 'whites' (CPH in kg) in different depth zones of northeast coast of India Depth in metres/months January February March April May June July August September October Noveraber December J All Months = No operation = No catch Table 12. Month-wise abundance of 'browns' (CPH in kg) in different depth zones of northeast coast of India Depth in metres/months January February March April May June July August September October November December All Months = No operation of 'browns' was more in August-October in m. May-June in m, April-July in m and May-July in m depth ranges. In the depth range of m 'browns' were abundant in almost all the months. General Remarks The present analysis of the four year data (1983-'84 to 1986-'87) shows that the number of vessels in the fleet increased from 55 in ]983-'84 to 100 in 1986-'87. The effort expended also increased from 143,961 trawling hours in 1983-'84 to 195,300 hours in 1986-'87. Although the landings also increased over the years it is not commensurate with the effort. Catch per hour of trawling (CPH) for total prawns declined gradually from 20.1 kg in 1984-'85 to 15.8 kg in 1986-'87. CPH for 'browns', the dominant component of the prawn landings, also declined from 12.6 kg in 1984-'85 to 9.0 kg in 1986-'87 (see Table 1). The other two groups of prawns, 'tigers' and 'whites', also indicated a decline in CPH over the years. This clearly shows that the 29

17 fishery has already reached a peak in 1984-'85 and is on a downward trend. Rao (Indian J. Fish., 34 (4) : ; estimated the potential resource of prawns between Pentakota and the Sunderbans as 6,577 t and suggested that the stock can withstand the fishing pressure of 104 big trawlevs apart from the existing small mechanised boats and indigenous craft. Inl986-'87 about 100 big trawlers fished in these waters. Even at this level of effort the CPH has gone down considerably, and it may go down further in I987-'88 as the number of vessels is hkely to increase to 125. It is evident from the available results on catch and effort and potential estimate that the fishery is at the threshold of over fishing, and the time has come to think about the conservation of the resource. Gulland (In Penaeid Shrimps - their biology and management, Fishing News Books Limited, , 1984) discussed the merits and demerits of the conservation methods applicable to prawn fisheries. The methods in order of priority are: i) Restriction on number of fishing vessels, ii) imposition of closed season, iii) regulation of mesh size and iv) catch quotas. In the present instance, the industry came forward to impose a ban on fishing for two months, during April 15 to June 15, in 1985-'86 fishing season. However, this self imposed ban did not yield expected results in the ensuing 1986-'87 season as the CPH came down further. The operators observed a closed season for three months, during April 1 to June 30, in 1986-'87 season, although reluctantly. This also is not showing any increasing trend in the catch rate in the current season (1987-'88). So the closed season has not proved to be effective in increasing the catch rates. Presently most of the trawlers are using nets with codend mesh size of 30 mm. There is no need to increase the mesh size any further. Another alternative is to fix a catch quota for these boats. This has been attempted in many countries and found it to be a complicated procedure to implement, as this leads to over capitalisation if there is no restriction on the number of vessels owned by a single individual or firm. Finally, we are left with one alternative namely, restriction of the number of vessels operating on the fishery. If we fail to exercise this restriction, there may be a crisis not only in respect of big trawlers but also for small mechanised boats since both the fleets share the same resource.